Dun Laoghaire Baths Win Architectural Award

17th July 2024

Originally built in 1843, the Dún Laoghaire Baths have been redeveloped by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, and include the restoration of a pavilion, a new jetty featuring in-built seating, a changing canopy, a refurbished Edwardian gazebo and a new walkway from Newtownsmith on the south shore of Dublin Bay

The designers of the redeveloped Dún Laoghaire Baths have won a major architectural award.

The design team of dlr Architects and A2 Architects has been conferred with the AR public awards 2024.

Run by The Architectural Review, the AR Public award “celebrates excellence in the design of public space, from parks to pools to all the civic structures of the city”.

All projects must have been completed within the last five years (after January 2019), and should be freely accessible to the public in order to be eligible.

Dun Laoghaire Baths Win Architectural Award - The design team of dlr Architects and A2 Architects has been conferred with the AR public awards 2024

The winning project was selected by a panel of judges including Ricky Burdett, professor of urban studies at the London School of Economics; Aziza Chaouni, associate professor of architecture at the University of Toronto and the founding principal of the design practice Aziza Chaouni Projects; and Günther Vogt, founder of Vogt Landscape Architects.

said: "The architecture and outdoor spaces of the Dún Laoghaire Baths are powerfully designed to resist an unrelenting force of nature: the sea. The buildings and promenade nevertheless convey an inviting atmosphere. The materials seek a dialogue with the rocks in the surf - cast from gravel, water and cement, they appear like geological formations, both materially and in terms of the dimensions of the individual parts".

Projects in Mongolia and Switzerland which were also on the shortlist (see below) were highly commended.

To celebrate the award, dlr Architects will speak at an Architectural Review public live event on Thursday, August 8th, which promises “to delve deeper into the design and development of Dún Laoghaire baths”.

Attendees will have the opportunity to engage in a Q&A session following the presentation.

Please register your free attendance here.

The full 2024 shortlist:

Rambla de la Girada by Batlleiroig Arquitectura in Spain
Muelle de San Blas by Colectivo C733 in Mexico
Dún Laoghaire Baths by dlr Architects and A2 Architects in Ireland
Border library and sports centre by Fernanda Canales Arquitectura in Mexico
National Portrait Gallery by Jamie Fobert Architects and Purcell Architects in the United Kingdom
Wayair Foundation School by Jeju Studio and Arh+ in Tanzania
Railway Forest Park by JSa in Mexico
BookWorm Pavilion by Nudes in India
La Petite Saussaie by Paysarchitectures in France
Ger Innovation Hub by Rural Urban Framework in Mongolia
Seven interventions in Monte by Studio Ser in Switzerland
Tlatenchi Cultural Centre by Taller CD in Mexico
Taiwan-Reyhanli Centre by The Centre for World Citizens in Turkey
Jieshou Village Hall by Wang Weijen Architecture in China
Tjalmaweg by ZJA in The Netherlands

Published in Dun Laoghaire Baths Project

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Dun Laoghaire Baths

About The Author

Lorna Siggins

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Lorna Siggins is a print and radio reporter, and a former Irish Times western correspondent. She is the author of Search and Rescue: True stories of Irish Air-Sea Rescues and the Loss of R116 (2022); Everest Callling (1994) on the first Irish Everest expedition; Mayday! Mayday! (2004); and Once Upon a Time in the West: the Corrib gas controversy (2010). She is also co-producer with Sarah Blake of the Doc on One "Miracle in Galway Bay" which recently won a Celtic Media Award

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